Cold Sweat
by Pilser
Summary: Loki gets a fever, and it is not sick.
1. Problems arise

Loki stumbled down the hallway, his feet crossing over themselves and nearly pitching him face first into the floor. It had been an entire year since Loki was sent to live with Avengers and never had he felt like this.

Loki felt like he was on fire, the sweat was running down his forehead and dripping from his nose. He didn't know what was happening and the only things his befuddled brain could think of was that, somehow he was cooking.

He again cursed his Jötunn genes and hoped that he hadn't caught some strange human pathogen. Although he wouldn't be surprised if the illness made him melt.

The Avengers were at the table, Steve scowling at his frosted flakes after one too many jokes from Tony, relating him to the cereal. Bruce sharing a muffin with Natasha. Thor on another box of pop tarts. Tony smirking into his coffee and Clint in the kitchen trying to make what he said was the best sandwich in the world.

Tony and Bruce had decided to join the group today after weeks of coffee and shitty takeout food. A loud thud behind them caused everyone to turn around, only to see Loki sitting on the floor rubbing his nose glaring daggers at the wall.

"Brother what are you doing upon the floor" Thor's voice broke the awkward tension and caused everyone to snap out of the stunned states.

None of them had ever seen the seemingly flawlessly graceful god in such a position or state before.

The sweat was pouring off Loki turning his green button down wet and disgustingly enough spreading to the floor.

Loki didn't reply, he just continued to sit on the floor in a daze. Natasha got up and moved to his side.

His state captured the attention of everyone.

She bent down and put her hand to Loki's forehead, instead of slapping her hand away and threatening to rip it off, he just continued to sit, almost as if he didn't feel her.

"You have a fever". Natasha said addressing no only Loki but the curious Avengers behind her.

Loki looked up and started to get intimidated by the number of people around him.

"When did you all gain the ability to multiply". Loki's voice sounded husky, like he had been gargling marbles.

"Come one Loki lets get you to bed". Natasha said, going to put her hands underneath his armpit to lift him up.

"Ha Reindeer Games is sick, I am a god and I have a cold". Tony's voice changed as he tried to mimic how Loki talked, his joke bought some familiarity back to the situation.

Loki fixed his eyes on one of the many Tony's in front of him, he opened his mouth to reply, but his mind was drawing a blank, nothing witty was coming to mind.

He was indignant, they were not only making fun off him, but they were also treating him as if he was a weak human.

He suddenly felt like a child again, feeling a sudden sense of defiance he teleported away and out of the tower.

"Ah where did he go". Tony looked to the other people at the table.

When an answer wasn't supplied he added.

"Was Loki sulking".

"What kind of poison has been inflicted upon my brother". Thor stood tall, his hammer gripped firmly in his left hand.

"Its not a poison Thor he is just sick". Bruce reassured always the voice of reason.

"Sir would you like me locate Mr. Laufeyson" Jarvis asked.

"No, just let him sulk". Tony answered.

The subject now forgotten the Avengers turned back to there food and tried to forget about what had just happened.

#######################################################

Hours later the Avengers were sprawled throughout the room, Clint trying to win back his pride after losing to Natasha in an arm wrestle, Thor playing with the blender in the kitchen and Bruce sitting on the couch watching a movie with Steve and Tony.

"Sir I am receiving reports about a deranged man terrorising the people"

"Jarvis how many times have I told you that we don't deal with those things" Tony replied turning back to the TV.

Tony and Cap were going through a movie marathon trying to watch as many movies as possible so that Cap could understand things that they were talking about, and Tony to assure that Cap would understand his insults later.

"But Sir, the deranged man is reportedly of tall stature... wearing green" The Avengers turned and looked at each other.

"Loki".


	2. Hide and seek

The sun had risen to its highest point hours ago. The Avengers had been searching for Loki for ages. Every time they got a report on him, he would vanish and the search would begin again.

They were starting to get tired of the constant chasing.

They needed to find him soon, the reports that were filtering in were starting to get weirder.

The Avengers were all in the quinjet, waiting for a new report on the latest sighting. Tony had stopped flying around ahead of everyone.

The last time he flew ahead, they had thought something had gone wrong, cause he hadn't reported in.

When they got there Loki was no longer there, but Tony was on the floor laughing. Natasha still found a laughing robot on the floor funny, so Tony had joined everyone in the plane.

He still wouldn't say what happened, just kept telling them they would see.

"Sir, Loki has been sighted again, he is"…. Tony cut Jarvis off.

"Lets not ruin the surprise". The smirk that had been on Tony face returned full force. Frightening those on the plane.

Whenever Tony found something funny, it was not good for their health.

When they finally got to his location they landed on the nearest building out of his sight and crept to the side.

What they saw made, some of them cringe and the rest snicker.

There was Loki flirting with an old lady.

Thor wanted to interfere, but the Avengers knew that if they did Loki would disappear and they wouldn't find him again.

The Avengers watched as Loki took and knee and raised the old ladies hand to his lips.

The old lady blushed, and Loki flashed a charming smile up at her.

They couldn't tell if the colour in his cheeks was because he was blushing, or the fever that wracked his body.

From the glazed look in his eyes they were going to guess that it was the fever.

By now Steve and Thor had snuck up behind Loki.

The Avengers on the roof were surprised that Thor was moving so silently, but from the look Steve was sending him, Loki might have just been so out of it that he didn't hear them.

When they got closer they pounced, Thor grabbed Loki around the chest, pinning his arms to his side. While Steve grabbed his legs, the struggle didn't come from Loki, but from the old lady at Steve's back.

Bruce went to call out to warn him, but Tony covered his mouth.

She lifted her hand bag and hit Steve across the back of the head.

Steve tried to talk her down, but she wouldn't have it, continuing to pound on Steve.

Steve and Thor began to make their get away back to the safety of the roof. Trying to escape the woman's wicked arm.

She followed, hobbling along with her cane and arthritic hips, continuing to swing her handbag.

They made it to the stairs and took them two at a time, Thor nearly falling over as he tripped up the stairs. Steve pushing them faster trying to escape the lady and her wrath.

The woman stopped at the bottom of the stairs, realising it was futile and that she could no longer follow them.

Steve and Thor came through the door and ran over to the rest of the Avengers, all of whom were in varying states of amusement. Clint and Natasha were leaning on each other, Bruce was trying to cover his smile with his hand and Tony had a video camera, still rolling and pointing at them.

It took a while and much embarrassment on Steve's part until everyone had calmed down enough to move off the roof. Thor had to defend Steve many times, but his comments of 'the woman had a weapon' and 'He did the noble thing' did nothing to help.

Natasha was the first to sober up.

"Come on lets get Casanova here home".

She looked over at Loki only to see his arms free, playing with Thor's hair twirling it around his finger with a cheesy sight was too comical and everyone broke down into laughter again.

Everyone headed back to the quinjet and began to make their way home.


	3. Tell the world I'm coming home

Arriving and getting Loki to his room was not a walk in the park.

Natasha could swear that his legs were magnets, they were attracted to every surface within reach.

Looking up after having to pick uphill left shoe, she saw Thor with his arms wrapped around his shoulders and Loki's feet against the wall. He was breathing hard with the effort it took to stop them moving him.

Steve and Clint were trying to move his legs from the wall, but every time they removed one leg, the other came up to replace it.

Tony was further long leaning against Bruce with his hands wrapped around his ribs.

The camera from before was in Bruce's hands, seeing how Tony couldn't seem to stand straight without doubling over in laughter.

They had been going at this for an hour and no matter how much effort the boys out in. It seemed it was just getting harder for them to move Loki.

Steve ducked under Loki's flailing limbs as he swung his leg out.

The captains fast reflexes saved him, but his bulk kept Clint from seeing at coming, he ended up with a foot to the face and Tony's laughter drowning out his cursing. Thor joined in.

Natasha saw Steve's mouth moving probably scolding Clint for his language.

Clint's angry gestures suggested he didn't find it as funny as everyone else, him and Steve ending up switching places.

After many more kicks, laughs and broken glass, they finally got to Loki's room.

Bruce ran off to get something to help with the fever. While Steve and Thor tried to put a struggling Loki to bed. Clint had stayed back at the door after taking a kick to the groin.

It seemed being closer to Loki hadn't made things better.

After much struggle they finally got Loki into bed.

Thor had to hold Loki down. His insistent flailing ended up with Thor getting head butted. The result was Steve holding his legs, Natasha with the camera and Tony joining the fray to hold down his head.

Bruce soon returned with medicine, water and …

handcuffs.

Clint's head tilted to the side, much like the bird his nickname came from.

"Uhhh. Why?" Clint was dumbfounded, he realised what the cuffs were for. What he couldn't figure out is why Bruce has them.

"Ask Tony" Bruce's voice came out far too nonchalant for the current situation.

Looking up Tony eyes took on their mischievous twinkle and he opened his mouth about to give his reason.

"Don't worry, I don't want to know" Clint's voice came out in a rush to stop Tony from saying what was probably going to be something very lewd.

Loki looked up and saw the cuffs, suddenly all his struggles stopped.


	4. Tumble in the sheets

The cuffs were dangling precariously from the tip Bruce's finger, almost as if he didn't want to touch them. He grimaced at the fluffy pink cuffs as they swung slightly back and forth, catching the light in the room and reflecting off of their immaculate surface.

Loki's glassy eyes moved from left to right, following their movement.

Thor glance between the rings of metal and his brother, removing his hands enough to give him space, but still close enough to restrain his brother again if he tried to escape.

Tony didn't think he would have to worry though. Loki's eyes were fixed on the cuffs with almost childlike awe and slight intrigue.

Loki glanced around, his eyes moving hazily from one person in the room to the next, never staying in one place long. It looked like he was searching for an answer.

When none was forthcoming, Loki came to his own conclusion.

Loki looked to his right, his eyes immediately riveted to Tony. He looked at him for a while, the grin spreading across Tony's face causing him to smirk.

Loki tilted his chin down and looked up at Tony through his eyelashes, a flirtatious look entering his eye.

Tony smirked back, he would admit Loki was pretty hot, the flush across his high cheekbones and down his chest was very becoming, but the reason he was responding to Loki was mostly because of the awkward way in which Cap was trying to hide his blush.

Steve was looking away, doing his best to get away from the situation, while still holding Loki's legs still. For Steve it just got worse as Loki put actions to words and began to openly flirt with Tony.

"Have I been that bad" Loki's voice dropped a few octaves, a sultry pout on his lips.

Tony, never one to shy from a challenge answered him with an equally deep voice.

"Oh, yes a really bad boy" Tony's smirk only grew as Steve coughed in embarrassment.

Thor's head tilted to the side, he couldn't understand why Tony had called Loki a boy and he didn't think Loki had been that bad.

He would agree that Loki was just being his regular mischievous self, albeit a bit extreme but not really bad. Before he could open his mouth to say something though, he was stopped by Loki's answer.

"Do bad boys get punished" Loki purred as he squirmed slightly on the bed.

Thor jolted away from Loki like he had been burned. His hands a blur as he slapped them over his eyes and ran from the room. He wouldn't allow the image of his brother to be ruined anymore than it already was.

A crash sounded at the end of the hall as Thor blindly slammed into things in his haste to get away from the scene unfolding in the room.

Steve refused to back off however, holding Loki's legs down resolutely, he refused to let go and back off, not until he knew Loki wouldn't be going anywhere.

Tony bought his eyes back to Loki. "Oh yes, very much so" he replied.

Tony slid his hand down Loki's arms and took a hold of his hand. Capturing both he bought them above Loki's head pinning them down and leaning slightly over Loki to get better leverage.

Steve tried harder to not look, his head was bent at an odd angle, his left shoulder lifted and pressed against his eyes.

Tony thrust his hands out to Bruce, only to glance up and see Bruce gone.

Clint had the cuffs now. He was holding them at arm's length pinched between two fingers like something you're sure has spiders in it. Tony's attention on him caused him to freeze, his eyes going wide.

Clint looked between Tony, Loki and the cuffs between his hands.

Dashing forward he thrust them into Tony's hand and retreated backwards to the door, placing Natasha between him and the scene unfolding in front of him.

Tony turned back to Loki and moved the cuffs to his wrists.

Closing them around the left wrist he passed the cuffs through the bar on the headboard and attached the other side to his opposite wrist.

The sound of the cuffs clicking into place echoed through the quiet room, the only thing breaking the silence was Loki's panting and the rustling of the fabric as he moved.

Tony extended his hand for the medicine and water glass. When none was forthcoming he looked up to see Clint with his back to the bed facing the door.

Tony cleared his throat hoping to gain his attention, but when Clint didn't move he could only assume that he wasn't paying attention.

Natasha held the camera in her right hand and swung back with her elbow. The hit connecting roughly with his ribs and caused him to jolt forward. The movement caused the water to slosh out of the glass, running down his hand and hitting the carpet with a slight splat.

Turning around he noticed Tony's extended hand and walked forward, handing the glass over he shoved them into Tony's outstretched hand and then retreated back to the door, keeping his eyes wearily on the scene so he wouldn't get hit again but staring at the roof.

Tony and Natasha met each other's eyes and shared a smirk.

They were both enjoying this far too much.

Tony turned back to Loki and held up the glass.

Taking out two tablets he moved them to Loki's mouth along with the water.

Loki turned his head away and sealed his mouth shut.

"Won't you be a good boy and open your mouth" Tony's voice captured Loki's attention, but Loki still wouldn't look at him.

"Only if you make me" Loki replied, flicking his eyes up to look at Tony then turning back to look ahead.

Clint face went red, a choking squeak caused Natasha to look at him only to see his mouth agape and eyes wide. He then turned around and beat a quick retreat, sprinting from the room and running into the wall across the hall from the door.

Picking himself up he ran in the direction that Thor and Bruce went, tripping over his own feet in his haste.

She looked back only to see Tony slip his finger into Loki's mouth and start pushing his mouth open.

Loki shifted causing Steve to look up from his elbow at the scene. What he saw made him jolt back, falling backwards of the bed and onto the floor. Sitting up Steve rubbed the back of his head where he had banged it.

Tony put the pills into his own mouth along with some water and moved closer to Loki.

Steve's eye's widened in horror, he flipped over and scrambled to his feet trying to make a quick escape, his feet got caught on each other, causing him to fall to his face, crashing down with a solid thud. Scrambling out the door he slammed into the opposite wall, his hand hitting hard enough to leave an impression, cracking the surface and going through it.

Tony pulled back, as strand of drool still connecting his mouth to the god that was now starting to doze off. He gave him a greater dose because he was a god, but the medication was obviously stronger than he thought. Hoping off the bed and leaving Loki. He walked over to Natasha who already had the camera extended out to him. Grabbing it, Tony sauntered to the room, heading to the elevator and down to his lab.

Natasha just shook her head and followed the path that the other Avengers took, heading away from the door, closing it with a soft click.

##############

Loki woke up feeling groggy. Bringing his hand down he went to rub his eyes, only to realise that he couldn't move his hands.

Looking up, he immediately spotted the fluffy pink cuffs. Glaring at them accusingly, he cut them off with his magic, leaving them still around his headboard but no longer on his wrists.

Getting up he found that he was still in his clothes from yesterday. Glancing around he saw some of his things lying on the floor in shambles, moon light was streaming in through his window, bathing the dark room in pale light, meaning that the day had long passed.

Moving to his door he was immediately stumped by the spider's web of cracks in the wall opposite his door which surrounded a definite hand print. Frowning he turned away, heading down the hall in search of answers. He couldn't remember what happened yesterday, Loki remembered waking up feeling dizzy, then nothing.

Walking out to the dining room, he glanced to his left only to see the Avengers gathered on the couches.

"What happened yesterday" Loki voice accused, he could only assume it had something to do with them.

Tony was openly snickering, while the other Avengers minus Natasha seemed awkward, doing everything in their power not to look at him.

"You had a fever" Natasha answered, it seem she and Tony were going to be the only ones to answer as the others were fidgeting, shuffling their feet and looking out the windows, to the roof or at the floor.

"I do not get sick" Loki's voice came out with his regular disdain, but he also sounded slightly insulted.

"Sorry but you do" Natasha answered again.

"We have a video to prove it" Tony added, a childlike grin plastered on his face.

The Avengers heads snapped towards Tony, eyes wide with alarm.

It seemed to be a signal for Jarvis because to lights turned off casting everything in darkness. The only light in the room was provided by the video now playing on the big screen.

The Avengers, except Tony and Natasha all rushed from the room. Well tried to, but it was difficult when the room was dark, causing the earths clumsiest heroes to trip over themselves and others in their hurry to evacuate.

Loki looked at the screen, and his face shifted from intrigue and anger to horror. When the movie was over he blasted the box destroying all evidence of his shame.

"Oh that's not my only copy" Tony said turning to his with a smirk, firmly plastered to his face.

"Tony" Loki growled, he was just picturing all the different way he was going to kill him.

"Hey calm down cold sweat" Tony answered, his hands up in defence.

Loki stopped his attack and tilted his head to the side, he was mortified that someone had seem him in such a state, but he was curious about the new nickname Tony gave him.

"Yeah cold sweat, not very creative I know but when you sweat, its cold" Tony answered.

Loki just turned and stalked out of the room, a pout settled firmly on his face, the sound of Tony and Natasha's laughter following him as he went.


End file.
